Headlice (merged)

fannyadams

I get really really cross when my 2 come home with the dreaded letter - it's almost every 2 weeks without fail!
SOMEONE isn't doing their bit - I think NEXT TIME I'm going up the school! It's an infringment of MY human rights!

janthemum

I agree with Helen Vasey; my daughter had them so many times at primary school i lost count, but since at secondary school they have completely disappeared. I tried all the lotions and potions but the only way I found was wet combing every 2 days with conditioner and fine tooth nit comb. it was a nightmare as as soon as she was clear she was re-infected. She had long hair which I cut into a short bob just to make things a bit easier which helped. my son got it once and I just shaved his hair off.

Mishy

fannyadams wrote:

I get really really cross when my 2 come home with the dreaded letter - it's almost every 2 weeks without fail!
SOMEONE isn't doing their bit - I think NEXT TIME I'm going up the school! It's an infringment of MY human rights!

I work in a classroom. It always tends to be the same children that have the headlice. But when you mention it to the parents they don't seem to bother.

I think they should bring back the "Nit Nurse" (if want of a better word).

But until parents actually acknowledge that their children have headlice then all the parents that do check their children will have to keep doing it.

You can't really blame the children when the parents should be checking their hair.

Mishy

samnmalc

salli9 wrote:

If you have the time try removing the eggs from the hair, very tedious, but twice I did this with my daughter when she was younger, it prevented them hatching out. The eggs attach themselves near to the roots and are visible, once you look, even with blonde hair, drag hair between your fingers and remove them. My daughter didn't like it much but prefered it to the thought of the lice.

I will second that!
I did this with my daughter every night and we were nit free in a week!!!

I use the tea tree oil spray now on their hair every morning and we have not had them since :j

Sam_26

Full Mark Lotion (Purple box) and Hedrin are both pesticide free as well.

Spendless

Can someone tell me what the life-span/cycle is of a headlouse? DD attends nursery 3 full days a week. Last week I combed thru DD hair she was completely free, she went to nursery the day after. After this she was at home with me and we did not go out. Foolishly I have not checked her hair since. She went to nursery 3 days this week. On her 3rd day the nursery rang as she'd been scratching, and they'd spotted one on her head. Their policy is for her to be taken home as they don't want it spreading (I understand this and don't have an issue with it). I took her home and did her hair and couldn't believe the amount she had and the size of them. Considering last time I'd checked I'd found nothing.

Calling the last time I did hair the evening of Day 1 this is now the afternoon of Day 9. How fast do they grow?

No one else in the family has them on checking and she hasn't been anywhere else. We have been in cos my car was making a strange noise and was due in garage so I've not dared go out. it's easter hols so we haven't been up the school and my eldest is clear, so can they only be coming from the nursery

Previously I have used treatments such as derbac M thjat goes on for 12 hours and a different solution that goes on for 3 hours and after the time is up I still find them alive on her head. I have the electric comb but that failed to detect a couple I got out with a metal one. I sent off for nitty gritty but despite its claims to get rid of eggs I can still see white ones on her hair.

conradmum

To answer your last question first, the white eggs are empty egg cases. The live eggs are a kind of brown colour. The treatments that are supposed to work on the eggs only kill them, they don't get rid of them as they're glued to the hair. The white egg cases are often more visible because they've been on the head longer and have grown out with the hair, while the live eggs, just laid, are in clusters close to the scalp.
I don't recognise the products you name but if you want to really kill lice and eggs with a proper pesticide, it has to be bought over the counter at the chemist. They don't have them on the shelves as it's one of those things they have to give advice on when they sell it. These products are strong and should work if used properly, but it's pretty difficult to use them properly if, for example, you have a young child with long hair, as you have to completely saturate the head with the lotion. Also, don't forget that these products are proper pesticides, that is, harmful to life, so should be used with a lot of caution.
To answer your earlier questions, I don't know how long they take to grow but the larger ones could easily have walked onto your daughter's hair. They have to be a certain size to do that anyway. I should think they arrived from a heavily infested child, so she got a load all at once, probably not long after you last checked her hair. Then, because there was a pretty high population, they could set up home and start breeding quickly.
As other posters on this thread have said, the most effective and safest method of getting rid of them is persistence at going through her hair with conditioner and a nit comb. If you can get her to stay still, you can also locate and scrap out the eggs between your fingernails (they are stuck on pretty fast). The favourite locations for laying eggs are behind the ears, in the nape of the neck and around the hairline.
I totally sympathise with you on this. My son kept picking them up from nursery until one day, after having found live lice in his hair three times in two weeks, I went in to talk to them about it. They apologised but said all they could do was send out letters and inform the parent if they saw a live louse. Even though it seemed they were saying there was nothing they could do, they must have done something because he hasn't caught them again since then.

Fiona11

We were away staying with relatives when I noticed my DD had head lice. i went to the pharmacy and said I needed something quick to use as she was embarassed and didn't want everyone knowing about it and therefore didn't want it left on for hours. I used Full Marks mousse. You just spray it on dry hair, leave it on for about half an hour and then wash the hair as normal. you obviously have to go through with a nit comb after to remove any dead head lice.

Spendless

The treatments used Debac M and Lyclear were bought over the pharmicist counter. My GP even gave me a perscription for Derbac M the other day. They worked on everyone elses hair-from when son brought home first bout but not on daughters. They were still alive at the time you were told to rinse off.

Nitty Gritty I saw recommended on this thread and it's an aromatherapy lotion used in conjunction with their comb. i used the lotion and it picked up another 2 lice that I missed the previous day. It was the white cases I was concerned about. glad to discover they are empty. Is there anything I can use to get rid of them?

springchicken

My son and daughter had headlice on and off permanently through infants and juniors. I tried every treatment going and this would clear them up then they would be back 2 weeks later.
I have found the best and only cure to keep them away is secondary school!!